


The Serpent's Mark

by cymrymira



Series: The Adventures of Kit and Leona and a Few Other Friends! [10]
Category: Original characters - Fandom, world of warcrafts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 10:18:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 13,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16993149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cymrymira/pseuds/cymrymira
Summary: Lucierin works hard to fit in, or...at the very least, to at least be her own person.





	1. Trap

**Trap**

Water was dripping somewhere in this dark cell, but Luceirin couldn’t make out where due to the echoes.  
  
She couldn’t even say how long she had been down here, there was no light, and all she could tell of what she was in was that a sort of cool stone.  
Why she knew at least. Or she could guess. There were several people and groups that could not stand her.

Hell, she doubted that the person she attempted to reach out to for help would come. Serene was very clear in the amount of pain and death that she would bring to the dark phoenix if they ever crossed again.  
  
 _“You could have stayed on Mother’s farm, you would have been safe there.”  
_  
She snorted at that thought, safe was not something she wanted. Rest, yes… and she did rest while she hid on Raine’s farm, but sanctuary was something she refused to take.  
  
Not while she had debts to pay at least.  
  
Still…  
  
Lucierin pulled at her braid and took out a dark feather glowing with a faint purple light, looking around quietly as she stood.   
  
“Well. Fuck.”  
  
She frowned at the crest on the wall opposite her bars, “The ice lizard may not have been the best choice after all,” she groaned, “And when the  _hell_  did I piss off these guys?”  
  
She kicked the wall,  _damnit_ , it was too obvious, They saw that damn piece of paper,  _read_  the enchantments…   
  
Serene would see that and think trap. But it wasn’t from  _her_  (for once).

She hated being played. That damn thief made her out to be a fool when she betrayed Mira and burnt Zandrae’s house to save Vel… who as far as she could tell was only  _slightly_  inconvenienced by that woman’s attack. 

And now…  
  
“Damn  _lizards_ …” she growled, “That idiot better be smart enough to not come here.”   
  
Lucierin sat down and hugged her knees, “And they took all my explosives…” she rummaged around her vest and leggings, “And fuck. All my kni…” she reached down to her boot and smirked as she tapped the heel, “All but one of my knives… that’s something at least.”

A knife, her dark feather, the quill she had poked her finger to write with… she touched the floor… sand, about three feet of concrete on all sides, and… she stood and tapped the bars to her cell… true steel…

“Shit, this  _better_  be enough to work with…”


	2. Dragon Whore and Bird Brain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a rescue and a fight, Serene and Lucierin manage to somehow create a truce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...the title is from the lovely terms of endearment the two have for each other.

**Dragon Whore and Bird Brain**

Lucierin was extremely smug with herself as a far less smug Serene walked beside her with a frown on her face as they searched for Vel. They made an odd pair, Luce was dressed in dark leathers stained with oil, her goggles pushed over her head to keep the stray hairs of her loose braid from her face. Serene was dressed far more primly, not a stitch out of place, not even the quills sticking in her neat bun looking anything less than perfect.

Her spectacles were slipping off her nose, but Lucierin never knew her to have glasses that were actually fitted.

“And you have all the paperwork?” the rogue prompted the mage, “So if she decides…”

“Yes,” the mage practically growled, “You do realize this is taking candy from a baby?”

“Oh relax, what was Leona going to do with her third anyways? Besides, she seemed happy to make her share make money for Kit’s shares… and the bit of work we did to ensure that it works far more efficiently under the new share owner…” Lucierin grinned, this was nearly a stroke of genius on her part, “That with the other suggestions we came up with should generate Vel quite a bit of revenue.”

Serene adjusted her glasses, “That’s if she approves, if I can get…”

Lucierin pinched her ear and she glared at the dark-haired rogue who nodded at Vel, and sighed, “You are enjoying yourself entirely too much for this.”

“I should be,” Luce grinned as she placed her hands behind her head, “None of this has to deal with Father and there’s no personal risk. Now come on, we have a report to make Ms Frost Bitch.”

“That’s Assistant Professor Frost Bitch to you,” Serene snapped as she stepped forward to talk to Vel, Lucierin snorting as she followed behind her, “I spent a great deal of time studying and taking the Reliquary tests for that title, thank you very much.”

* * *

 

Lucierin was whistling as she returned to the loft she was renting, ignoring the white-haired mage that glared at her from beneath her bandages as she went inside.  
  
She was barely settled at her work table when the knock on the door came and she leaned back, “Door’s open,” not surprised to see Serene cautiously enter and cross her arms, “Awww, you seem  _pale_. Sun not agreeing with you again?”

“How much did you get for them?” she snapped, wincing as she adjusted her glasses, “I saw you take off…”

“I’m in a charitable mood, so I gave them to that kid with the doll. Bought her some cake with the money I got from that last fight too.”

The rogue went back to working on one of her mechanical nightingales as Serene blinked, “You did… something  _nice_ …?”

Lucierin put a finger up, “Still sliced off your scales and stole your money. It doesn’t count. And why the hell didn’t you try and fight me back? We’re still not even.”

“No, I just wanted to make it fair. Since you claim you can’t defend against magic and all. Guess we know where we stand in what you call a ‘real’ fight,” Serene smiled gently and crossed her arms, “Incidentally Leona wanted to know if you were coming to bedtime stories tonight. It’s in an hour.”

She snorted, “Like  _I_  have time for  _that_.”

The mage shrugged, “Suit yourself, I normally don’t go either, unless Aura gives Mira a new book, but it is nice. And strangely, she does rather well making it come alive.”

Lucierin pointed behind her, “And that is another reason I don’t go. I still don’t trust you magic types. Saw a perfectly good escape trick ruined tonight because the girl  _cheated_.”

“Isn’t the point of escaping to use any means necessary?”

The rogue turned around as Serene adjusted her glasses once more and exited, “Oh,” the mage paused, nearly as an afterthought, “I’ll need a few dozen of those nightingales for Aura’s store. The children that come really do like their singing.”  
  
“Gotta pay rent somehow, and not  _quite_  making an dishonest living yet,” Lucierin smirked.


	3. Captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, she finds something she's kinda good at...  
> And still lapses into old habits.

**Captain**

Sunsoul Harbor was a naturally rowdy place to do business.  
  
Lucierin snorted as she sat in the office, pretending to be asleep as her hired woman fronted for her, telling the customer about the different guarantees of delivery and upselling the insurance that really made even more money than the actual business did sometimes.  
  
After all, Lucierin made damn sure that the ships were in top condition, that each was equipped with druids and shamans that could keep the worst of the weather off their route, that the crew were trained to handle any mishap…  
  
There would not be a repeat of Kit’s falling off of the _Dragonfox_.  
  
“Captain Talon will be taking care of your parcel personally,” Jenova was saying, “If you would please give us a description of those that will be carrying it…”  
  
Oho, it was going to be one of those jobs, the ones specifically for Luce’s smaller faster ship and crew, the  _Black Aerie_ , the ship that supposedly did not exist, at least not at Sunsoul Harbor, it was kept in the cave further south, much further south, in the Ghostlands.  
  
Lucierin kept pretending to be asleep as she studied the client, Forsaken, not recently risen, there was far too much confidence and magic about her.  
  
She fought a snort, a shadow priest, and kept her mind quiet as she continued listening.  
  
The client left and Jenova waited for a few moments before sighing loudly, “I don’t like it Captain.”  
  
“Of course not,” Lucierin said as she lifted back her goggles and gave up the pretense of sleep, “She’s hiring us for ‘official horde’ business, but she specifically hired our pirate crew, which isn’t supposed to be common knowledge, and to steal something from a ship sailing out of Tanaris, a neutral ship at that.”  
  
“One possibly belonging to the cartel down at Booty Bay,” Jenova frowned, “We could stand to lose face with them.”  
  
“Which is why the  _Black Aerie_  is independent,” the dark phoenix sighed, “But, I want to ensure that we can’t buy the parcel instead. After all, why waste a good business venture. Of course, if it IS an independent ship, they could have bought better protection. The cartel won’t mind us teaching that lesson for them, saves them from doing the piracy themselves.”  
  
“I’ll make the contacts and find out,” Jenova smiled, “We promised a delivery date of two weeks, that gives me plenty of time.”  
  
Lucierin smirked at her, “Absolutely, it’s why I hired you.”

“That and Kit’s crew here was completely incompetent, and you only kept the ones that were absolutely loyal to her, except that they’re only good on the  _Dragonfox_  and the all too honest ventures of Sunsoul Enterprises,” Jenova was already working on making her first contact, pouring clear water into a small bowl, “The books were a mess when I started.”  
  
“I didn’t want to give a certain dragon the smug satisfaction,” Lucierin shrugged, “Besides, Kit and I have some things in common still. She won’t notice the percentage I allotted for Vel’s expenses?”  
  
“No, I have that going back to Crimson Wings properly, she’ll just think it’s a stipend that she pays her father for use of the name and for legal purposes… she is still considered a minor,” Jenova looked at Lucierin, “You do realize that she’ll figure out the truth about the  _Black Aerie_ , Kit isn’t as stupid as most believe.”  
  
“No, but she is a hopeless romantic and in love with the idea of pirates,” she snorted, “Besides, I plan on you and your sister to keep the  _Dragonfox_  sailing near full time to keep her mind occupied with other matters. Evirin’s return will keep her distracted as well, nothing to worry about.”  
  
Jenova nodded, and Lucierin wondered if she should introduce Vel to the Duskrider twins.  
  
She shrugged and got up, “I’m doing inspection. Tell Una to take over once you finished contacting and getting my information. I’ll need my first mate.”

“Yes Captain!”

* * *

_Oh no, she’s cute.  
_  
Lucierin snorted at herself, then glanced over at the rogue crossing her arms and frowning as she leaned against the bookcase leading to the Council of the Uncrowned, then shrugged and walked over to her.  
  
“Problems Princess?” she asked as she placed a hand on her hips.  
  
Tess glanced at her with surprise, then frowned, “Nothing you can help with, I should have known the Hero was more a pirate than anything else.”  
  
“I’m a pirate too, I just don’t like being so out and out about it,” she raised an eyebrow, “So no one’s gone with your plan?”  
  
“We need to be careful,” Tess sighed, “And everyone wants to go for flash and pizaz…” her voice trailed off and she looked to Lucierin, “You wouldn’t want to help me out…?”  
  
The phoenix-elf blinked, “Why ask me? I didn’t think I was really invited into the…”  
  
“I can arrange that invitation. And,” Tess pulled a file from her back, “Lucierin Featherblood, we have a massive report on you,” she opened it up, “SI-7 is pretty damn impressive, and when that ‘sister’ of yours started to become friends with King Anduin, they noticed.”  
  
“She had a crush on him  _years_  ago,” Luce sighed, “I don’t think she’s even talked to him since we made that bad decision to go to Draenor.”  
  
“True, but they still noticed, especially a few other things,” she looked Lucierin over, “Gotta say, that’s impressive. I can’t see a feather anywhere.”  
  
“Even that huh?” she reached behind her ear and pulled out a dark glowing feather and handed it to Tess, “Don’t get any ideas, I’m probably the most stable one aside from baby brother, and he never goes elf.”  
  
“Gilneas has  _other_  problems,” Tess sighed, smiling as she took it, “About this help though…”  
  
“Drive a hard bargain Princess, but I’ll do it. Just meet me for dinner afterwards.”  
  
“Great! Now…” she leaned to whisper in Lucierin’s ear, “Here’s what I need…”

* * *

Lucierin stared at the guards lining the streets and felt her eye twitching.  
  
“DAMNIT!”  
  
“What was that?” a guard shouted and she covered her mouth.  
  
 _That’s it! Princess stew when I get back! And I thought Vel twisted me up!_


	4. Her Charge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vel has taken over the Black Aerie and changed the name to the Serpent's Kiss, handpicking her crew and charging Luce with getting some titan artifacts.

**Her Charge**

It was a quiet night.  
  
Lucierin snorted and shook her head as she noted that the priest was sleeping rather hard, and fought the temptation to pop the bubble of drool that was at the corner of the girl’s mouth.  
  
“I’ll take care of it Rubes,” she said as she went to relieve Teera and Niva of their watch, then sat down by the smoldering remains of their fire, looking away from it at the hills of Stormheim.  
  
Sleep that night had been fitful. Only careful practice with Nightmares kept her from crying out at the shadows that were tormenting her, and she frowned forcefully pushing those thoughts from her mind.  
  
Lucierin scrunched her nose in thought as one image remained, that of the bloodied gold, a treasure trove that the idiot thing insisted on showing her, something she knew was bait for a trap.  
  
Or it was something else.  
  
 _Not going to be worthy of it. Course I won’t whine as much as the ghost attempting to possess me about it.  
_  
She had just gotten free of that Nightmare, only to be thrown into another it seemed.  
  
 _Well, at least it’s not Kit that got me into this one, this I can blame this on my own stupid.  
_  
Lucierin snorted again and took out her little toolbox, working on building another nightingale… Ethillis would need it if he was joining their crew… and quite frankly, it was a way for her to put her thoughts in order.  
  
 _It won’t kill me. Only two people have that right, and I won’t let anyone else even attempt.  
  
But I have to protect my crew.  
_  
She glanced over at where they were all sleeping, then over towards the bay where the Serpent’s Kiss was docked with the bits of crew she expected to guard it while they were onshore.  
  
 _Her_  ship. Despite what Vel had on paperwork. And the people under it’s flags were in  _her_ protection.  
  
 _Damned_  if she was going to let some visions from some whiney ass ghost lead them to their deaths!  
  
She trusted Rubes would carry out the order in case the shadows did something more than whine and show her visions.   
  
Was there a way to get at that treasure without dooming them all?  
  
Did she even dare to tell the others about it?  
  
Her screwdriver slipped and bit into her thumb, and Luce bit back a curse as she popped the digit into her mouth, _No. Best to think on other things now.  
  
Like that orc shaman.  
_  
What the  _hell_  was he doing at that tower and what exactly did he beat them too?  
  
Lucierin narrowed her eyes, and reached into her pocket for the minature white dragon she had made some time ago, and whispered into it’s ear, taking a moment to hook it’s mouth to the communicator she was already wearing.  
  
“FUCK! Do you have ANY idea what time it is?!?” she winced as Serene’s voice yelled in her ear.  
  
“Oh like you were sleeping Bitch. I need you to do something,” Lucierin said quietly.  
  
“Description, and name if you have it,” she had to respect that about the dragon, she was perfectly business when she needed to be. She could almost forgive her fixing the paperwork for Vel.  
  
Lucierin nodded and told her all about the orc that interrupted their exploration of the tower.  
  
“Got it. Anything else?”  
  
“Yeah. Look up vrykul treasure troves for me, specifically any legends surrounding Stormheim,” she chewed the inside of her cheek, “Just curious.”  
  
“You’re never curious about things,” Serene’s voice softened, “What happened?”  
  
“Not telling you, you’ll go straight to Vel or Father, and I don’t want that,” she frowned, “Just check. I know you got information in that big ass library of Aura’s, you got until sunset tomorrow.”  
  
Serene sighed, and Lucierin knew she was counting to ten in a few languages before the comm crackled back on, “Be careful. I’ll have the information to you in a few hours. Sooner if I can find someone selling coffee in Dalaran at this hour,” the dragon powered down and the rogue took the wires from her communicator and put it back up.  
  
She’d wait. Serene would come through with at least who the orc was working for, if not detailed information on him and the last five generations of his family, just depending on how much of his stuff was on the records.  
  
Even if it was off the records, if it was ever documented anywhere, the scribe would find it.  
  
As for the treasure the shadow insisted on whining about…  
  
Well, that’d be up to the crew, once she had at least a bit of a guarantee that it was real and that it could be gotten without being cursed from here until eternity.  
  
Meanwhile, Rubes had her orders, and a very sharp knife to carry them out with.  
  
The crew would be safe, even from her.


	5. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kiss gets stuck...

**Rescue**  
  
Lucierin frowned as she checked her maps, “Zellus, it seems that Vel has finally came through on getting us out of here, you finish those repairs. Ethillis keep a lookout for this ship that’s supposed to be escorting us to Sunspire.”  
  
She had heard of some things about that port. Exactly the sort of people she liked to deal with from what most were saying.  
  
Even if she would more than likely get into a fight with most of them.  
  
Being stuck in Stormheim did cause a significant rise in her temper. Luckily Teera had found Vel, it was a calculated risk telling the druid to fly out of there and see what the hell was taking so long.  
  
She’ll do her old standby of blaming Serene. The dragon could stand a stabbing or three, and it kept her from murdering her employer.  
  
…Vel could stand a stabbing or three as well, just… she would miss the point of the anger… and it would turn into something enjoyable, and Luce wanted to stay angry at whatever she stabbed.  
  
They never should have come to Stormheim.   
  
First they had a ship full of titan artifacts that, as near as she could re-construct, meant a rather large nasty weapon.   
  
Then there were the tentacles that they had to fight to get said artifacts, most of that taken care of thanks to Luce’s bombs and Rubi’s potions, plus a few extra nasties that Teera and Zellus hid up their sleeves.  
  
And lastly, if she had to fight one more wave of vampirates…  
  
Stormheim could be blown off the face of the map for all she cared, it had been a long headache and she was glad to soon be putting it at her back.  
  
As soon as this other ship came to the Serpent’s Kiss, Lucierin didn’t care if she had to get out and  _push_  the damn boat, they were leaving.   
  
Orders given to the crew, she rolled up the map and went outside the cabin to wait at the helm, crossing her arms as she stared out into the sea.   
  
“Vel, whatever favor you get for this titan crap had better be worth it.”


	6. Bond Reforged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's not alone...

**Bond Reforged**

Lucieren sat at the table she had gotten for the last of her crew. She figured at the very least before letting the three on shore leave she could buy a couple rounds for them.  
  
And their rooms. For the next week.  
  
She sighed, a bowl of noodles sitting untouched next to her as she played with one of her knives, venting her frustration on concentrating on not nicking her fingers as she moved the dagger in between them.

  
She wasn’t really even mad at Vel.  
  
… _that_  mad at Vel.  
  
 _I’m the one that couldn’t protect my crew. I should have never taken the damn job in the first place._

_  
Never should have promised them…_

She shook her head,  she was a weapon not a captain. She couldn’t lead, it was foolish of her to even try.  
  
The knife drew blood and she paused, holding up her hand to look at it.  
“I’m getting dull.”  
  
She quickly bandaged her hand, took a sip of water and a bite of noodles… then started again.  
  
 _Discarded Weapon. Failed Experiment. Led them to destruction and death.  
_  
 _ **WILL YOU STOP THAT YOU IDIOT?!?  
**_  
Another cut and the dagger fell.  
  
Lucierin stared with wide eyes, then raised her hand to touch her ear.  
She hadn’t misheard, she knew that voice.  
  
The world came back to life, and she reached down and caught the dagger before it hit the ground, stuffed it into it’s sheath and resumed eating her noodles.  
  
“Well, the good news is that Rubes will have plenty of people to sell to here. And Zellus can find work easy, he’s good,” she frowned, “Teera already is working for the port according to Vel, and Ethillis is just in it for the fun. They’re going to be alright. I brought  _someone_ back at least.”  
  
There were worst things she had done.  
  
Luce just couldn’t think of any at the moment.  
  
 _At least the noodles are good._


	7. Reunion of Phoenixes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce and Luna meet up for the first time since Kit returned from Blade's Edge

**Reunion of Phoenixes**

Finally, the Kiss was in good repair, and the few outings that Lucierin and crew had taken her out for to test Serene’s spell made everything seem that all was well. This would work.  
  
Now Lucierin was pacing her cabin, keeping an ear out on her communicators for possible jobs there, and examining a few sea charts.  
  
Vel hadn’t prepared the next job yet, so…  
  
“Hullo!” a cheerful voice called from on deck and she started, whirling to go running out to see the newcomer.  
  
 _It couldn’t be… She doesn’t remember…_  
  


A tall dark-skinned knight-woman was standing there, talking animatedly with Teera as her twin tails bobbed up and down, a pale robed undead Sin'dorei next to her, and the usual unborn Val'kyr on the other side of the exceptionally optimistic Luna.

  
Lucierin stared, she hadn’t seen her since…

_Since I yelled at her for not being able to heal Kit. Right before Leona got adopted._  
  
“Oh! Cousin!” Luna grinned happily, grabbing Luce in a great big hug, “I heard your voice on the communicator and Brother said that you were a pirate now!” she giggled, “How have you been? I’m sorry I forgot everything, but I was having self-identity issues and used some words from…” here she blushed, and Lucierin remembered exactly why she wanted to kill the General, “Well, it doesn’t matter anyways. I remember now, and Brother and I just finished a Great Quest.”  
  
“A… great quest?” Lucierin stared at the… annoyingly taller blood-phoenix, “The hell are you talking about this time?”  
  
“Well, Sol and I had to save Annie and Reece!” Luna turned back to the girl, “Come on, don’t be shy! Anyways, Annie wants to go back to the Broken Isles, and help out at the clinic, she thinks that she can do a lot of good for Mother. Er, I guess I should stop calling Raine that since she’s not mine,” she tapped her chin, “Since the King created me, Cero’s my Uncle, and… I guess Raine would be like the weird cat-lady person, except that she’s…”

“GET TO THE POINT!” Lucierin snapped, then took a deep breath, “Who is she?” she pointed to the robed figure, and regretted the question as soon as Luna’s face fell and Eriesa turned invisible.  
  
“Reece raised me,” the girl explained happily, and Lucierin paled at hearing how young she seemed, turning to give Luna a hard glare, “It’s our fault. We all lied to her about finding our faces, and we ran out of time.”  
  
The rogue blinked, glanced over to Teera who seemed equally as confused, and then turned back to Luna.  
  
“So… since it’s almost Spring, Reece and I were going to look for more Faeries, so we can send them to the Summer Land before Autumn,” Luna said quietly, her hands behind her back, “I was wondering if you guys could take Annie to the clinic… or wherever she wants to go, King says it’s her own choice after all.”  
  
There was a long pause as Lucierin stared at Luna, then at Annie, then back to Luna.

“…where exactly did you and Sunny rescue her…” Lucierin’s eyes widened and she covered her face with her hand, “No. NO. Luna, you DIDN’T.”  
  
“Neither wanted to be there, so,” Luna crossed her arms, “And Sunny and I didn’t have any trouble getting them out. No one even had that icky shadow spell that made Reece a special Faerie.”  
  
“Oh good, a city full of SHADOW PRIESTS didn’t have the one spell that could KILL PHOENIXES FOR GOOD,” Lucierin snapped, “How very DAMN LUCKY you are for an  _idiot_ … where did you even  _get_  that armor?!”  
  
“Uncle said I could have it since I’m so good,” Luna whirled to show it off, “I’m officially a Flower Knight! Though… the people at the Order Hall didn’t like it when I tried to smash that lying crystal with a hammer, and so I got sent out on a Great Quest!”  
  
Lucierin stared.  
  
She looked back over at Annie, the girl had to have been around eleven or twelve at the time of her original death, then back to Luna, who was so mentally damaged that she  _may as well have been_  eleven or twelve, who walked through the world in a land so preposterously make-believe that half the time she was tempted to lock her up for her own safety.  
  
But then…  
  
Was Luna’s little world all that dangerous? Theravir seemed content to let her play in it.   
  
And then there was Annie… and  _several_  other things that pointed to Luna’s world not being as made-up as Lucierin first assumed.

“Fine, she can stay,” she finally decided, gasping as Luna grabbed her and Teera in for a rather large hug, “But this ain’t a charity ship! She has to work to pay her way down to the Broken Isles, and we’re not going until we have a job… a GOOD job.”  
  
“You won’t regret it!” the knight said happily, “Annie’s a hard worker!”  
  
“And if any problems arise from this,” Lucierin eyed her now, “For instance, any Forsaken Apothecaries start getting rather interested in my business, I’m going to let Vel have her phoenix omelette.”  
  
Luna nodded, “There won’t be, promise,” she crossed her heart, “Besides, Reece will be with me anyways, so they’ll come after us!”  
  
Lucierin blinked, about to say more, but Luna placed flower crowns on hers and on Teera’s head and kissed their cheeks before joyfully skipping off.  
  
“…” Lucierin frowned, taking the flowers off her hair, then turned to Teera, “Yes. That’s normal. For Luna.” _ **  
**_


	8. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The repairs on the Kiss are done and responsibilities are needed.

**Decision**

The Serpent’s Kiss was repaired and ready for sailing, and Lucierin stepped onto the deck, walking with quiet steps as she inspected the galleon herself, mentally preparing herself for the meeting tonight with the remaining members of her crew and the one tomorrow with the other captains of Sunspire Port.  
  
A rather annoying lord was causing a mess of problems. She rather liked the idea of paying him with a few of her cannons and bombs.  
  
Though in this case… one of her poisons may be the better of options.  
  
And not for her to decide, she would go by whatever decision the council tomorrow gave.  
  
She stretched, putting her mind to rest on that, she’d speak to her own crew tonight, and then listen in tomorrow, speaking only when she knew exactly what was being demanded of her and hers.  
  
There would  _not_  be a repeat of Stormheim.   
  
Vel may be the ship’s sponsor, and she may have been willing to listen to the monkette, to play Captain and do a few odd jobs…  
  
She wasn’t going to play at it anymore. Too many people relied on her.   
Stormheim should have never happened.  
  
They would have a choice, here and now. Those that chose to stay on would be promised work and a home.  
  
Those that chose to leave would be promised a safe escort… and be administered a lovely potion that would take away their memories of the last few days at Sunspire.   
  
Lucierin wouldn’t take the chance at accidentally betraying her new allies or her crew.  
   
She was Captain now.   
  
These lives were in her hands.  
  
No longer were they a simple merchant ship looking for cargo or ambassadors.  
  
Lucierin glanced at the other ships in the port, seeing their colors fly proudly, before glancing up at her own empty ropes, only the jade spots of colors above her black sails.  
  
Vel’s choice there would stay.

Mira had brought her a present, sewn by her own hand. She would wait to hoist it until she had gotten the other.  
  
She was Lucierin Kaela Featherblood.  
  
First of the blood phoenixes created by General Cero Sunsoul, created from the blood of his daughter Kit.  
  
His symbol, the Crimson Wings, would fly on her ship… no matter her personal feelings on the man… he was her beginning, he was her father… and despite everything, she loved him. Not that she would ever admit it.  
  
But above it…  
  
There was a special flag she was waiting on. One that marked her loyalty and her rebellion.  
  
Because she was, for as long as her crew would have her, the Captain of the pirate ship, _the Serpent's Kiss_.


	9. Cows for Hawks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kiss has a job.

**Cows for Hawks**

She had managed to get information and access to a competing breeder of dragonhawks, a Great Lady that resided in the center of the city. Serene had gone to see her, somehow gaining an invitation to tea, and came out of the afternoon with a rather large headache, and the price that Luce would have to pay.  
  
“She’ll give the port some breeding pairs, in silver, red, and gold,” Serene frowned, “But she needs you to ship something for her. I told her that you would be more than willing, and payment will happen after the shipment has been completed.”  
  
“Can’t be worse than what Vel had us cart.”  
  
“Cows.”  
  
Lucierin blinked, she must have misheard the mage, “What?”  
  
“She wants you to go to Booty Bay, pick up a herd of cows, and bring them to Eversong,” Serene crossed her arms, “That’s the job.”  
  
“Who the hell smuggles cows?”  
  
“Apparently Great Lady Sunrose. She wants to start a dairy business, just bought the perfect farm for it in eastern Eversong.”  
  
“Let me get this straight,” Lucierin took a deep breath, rubbing her temple, “She wants us to go to Stranglethorn, and pick up a herd of cows… and then smuggle them all the way back up the coast of the Eastern Kingdoms… and then drive the damn things to…”  
  
“Luckily, there’s a docking area near where the farm is, she’ll have her own wranglers,” Serene sighed, crossing her arms, “But… her dragonhawks are counted to be the best bred and preferred by the armies in Suramar.”  
  
“This is the dumbest thing I ever heard of.”  
  
“Well,” Serene gestured around at the port, “The whole herd can’t just be ported, they’re stolen cows from Redridge… she paid someone to steal them… and THAT is the dumbest thing I ever head of… no, no… here’s the dumbest thing. You’ve got competition.”  
  
“For COWS?”  
  
“Another ship is heading down there to try and get them first. Apparently they’re endangered and lots of farmers are trying to save the species. Not to mention the laws attempting to keep the shipping of livestock to a minimum.”  
  
Lucierin sighed.  
  
It was work. She did promise her crew work.  
  
And doing it could get Sunspire those dragonhawks… and Vel was very clear that was what Luce needed to concentrate on at the moment.

But geeze…  
  


* * *

Lucierin was fiddling with a music box, her goggles on and the magnifying lens dropped as she did the intricate gear work.  
  
“Captain, the new crew is all on deck, and they’re waiting for you.”  
  
She nodded, placing down the music box and took off the goggles, placing them carefully in a wooden box, before scowling at them and tossing it to the back of her desk, then grabbed her hat and brown captain’s coat, and went outside her cabin and the adjourning war-room to the upper main deck, stepping to the wheel, and looking down the stairs at those assembled, and placed a hand on her hips.  
  
“Alright listen up!” she yelled, watching as the group snapped to attention, marking a few already to keep a close watch on, “This here ship you find yourself working on is the Serpent’s Kiss. My name to you is Captain. If you want to know who’s signing your checks, that’s Captain Lucierin Featherblood! My word on this boat is coming from up high, anyone not savvy with that can get your asses off right now!”  
  
She smirked, “Rules on the ship are simple, do as your told, and you’ve got a home and a job, that there is a promise.  Anyone who sails under my colors will always have those two things! Now, Teera when she hired you, hired you for specific jobs. If I find you shirking in your hired occupation, you will be thrown off the ship and replaced by someone who will handle the responsibilities you are entrusted with! I am not your mother, and I don’t expect to be wiping your ass, nor will I ask any of my officers to! Can’t do the job, go find another home!”

This crew would do, she was certain of it.  
  
Oh sure, she spotted maybe one or two that might not take too kindly to hers, but those never lasted long.  
  
“Hoist the colors!” she shouted, the smirk turning to a grin as the two flags went up on the boat, the one marking her as a member of Sunspire Port, the one below it, with the symbol for Crimson Wings, the white phoenix on a field of black… only the one for the Kiss had a pale green snake wrapped around the phoenix.

After all… despite what she said to the crew, there was still one over her… but the crew needn’t know about Velerodra Valesinger.  
  
“Anchors up, man the sails!” she grabbed the wheel, “Come on ladies, we’ve got a fair wind and the open sea calling us! Next stop, Booty Bay!”

* * *

Disaster.   
  
That was all that this could be described as.  
  
Getting the cows was easy enough. They were waiting in Booty Bay, all nice and paid for, all she and Teera had to do was go into the Old Port Authority and pick them up.   
  
They were herding them to the ship when the first annoyance happened, thugs from Redridge, having tracked down the stolen cows, were attempting to steal them back, somehow getting past the Bruisers and attacking them.  
  
What happened next was pure chaos as they tried to get the cargo on board, the thugs taken care of, and not piss off the Bruisers. But they managed it, mostly due to Teera and Xaval’s ability to calm the herd down, and Anderia’s roping skills.  
  
Zelus had mapped out a route with the least amount of resistance, though that didn’t stop them from running into three Alliance Warships outside of the Twilight Highlands, insistent that the buyer in Eversong not receive the shipment and upset the balance of Trade.

Rubiaura had the crewmen load the cannons on the port side while Captain Featherblood attempted to maneuver around them, but it failed, and the first volley of cannon fire nearly decimated the Serpent’s Kiss.  
  
Rubiaura fired back, damaging one of the ships, and Ethillis finished that one with a large fireball, as Rubi ran for the turrets.  
  
The Alliance fired another volley, this time missing the ship as a gigantic tentacle rose out of the waters and grabbed the second Alliance ship.  
  
The crew of the Kiss was shocked to see that the useless monster that had been claimed as Ethillis as a pet in Stormheim was… in the water… a rather  _nasty_ sea monster.  
  
Luckily Juniper was on  _their_ side.  
  
They managed to get away from the Alliance and safely into Horde waters, then they turned their attention to the damage inside the boat.  
  
Thirty-eight of the hired crew had been killed in the battle, and they held a burial at sea, giving a few long moments of silence to the men and women that were promised home and a job.  
  
Luceirin was furious, and when Xaval called her to the cargo bay to look at an oddity… one of the cows was in reality a transmuted chicken… she ordered him to keep that as a pet and the ship’s mascot, a strange tribute to the lives lost.  
  
Finally they made it to the waters around Eversong.  
  
Lady Dawnrose sailed to meet them, and offered to take the cows, but instead of the promised three breeding pairs of dragonhawks, she only had one, promising the rest to be delivered at a later time.  
  
Captain Featherblood left the decision to the crew.  
  
No deal.  
  
Anderia stole the dragonhawks as Nytis and Zelus used smoke flares to hide them. As they were getting away, Teera put the crew to sleep, and the remaining two that resisted the spell were handled by Rubi’s mind-altering grenades.  
  
And now, with a cargo of forty-nine cows, and two golden dragonhawks… The Serpent’s Kiss, extremely battered and the crew exhausted, pulls into Sunspire Port.


	10. Retribution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce takes her pound of flesh.

**Retribution**

It was the dead of night when the Serpent’s Kiss sailed off the coast of Westfall, it’s new defensive spell of mist and dreams hiding it even further than the natural fog rolling off the sea, and Lucierin found the abandoned cove within the Deadmines to anchor it.  
  
It did attract  _some_  attention, murlocs had taken over in the absence of Van Cleef’s gang of miscreants, information Lucierin knew already, and Rubiaura and Teera were ready with a plan of their own.  
  
Teera appealed to the murlocs, asking them politely for their aid, and generally ushering them away from the ship.  
  
Rubiaura just mind controlled them.  
  
The first point of attack was to waylay the carriages coming to the Lady’s estate for the party. Vel had even been kind enough to include how many were traveling by that route and what guards they would have.  
  
A well placed smoke bomb halted the horses enough for Lucierin’s crew to unload the carriages, leave the nobles tied and gagged, and wondering what had happened… thanks to her feathers, they saw  _nothing_ , remembered even less.  
  
Rubiaura commanded her murlocs into the coaches, Teera gently coached them in, and Zelus and Lucierin jumped to steer the horses towards the party, both jumping off as they gathered the horses to a full gallop, the carriages dangerously careening behind them.  
  
As expected, they quite literally crashed into the front gate and the murlocs started to pour from the coaches, invading the party as chaos ensued.  
Teera and Zelus were in charge of crowd control, and they did their job well, Lucierin trusted their judgement there, and she and Rubiaura went to the Lady that had double crossed them for cows.  
  
Half her crew was dead because of this woman.  
  
She had something  _special_  for her.  
  
And when the Lady was on the ground, black veins slowly overtaking her body as her muscles spasmed and nerves burned with a cold fire, Lucierin snatched her fan and gave it to Rubiaura, who smiled from behind it, then gave a little kick to the noblewoman before both walked away.  
  
It was time to get paid.  
  
There was plenty of treasure on this estate, and plenty of dragonhawks, the latter to be sent to Vel for payment for the information, the former split between her crew and Sunspire Port.  
  
Rubiaura found something strange though, a black obelisk of sorts, that seemed to hum…  
  
Lucierin decided it was best they take it, then go find an expert. She sent Teera and the crew back to the ship before taking care of one last piece of business.  
  
She took out the feather that had absorbed the shadows from Darnath a few weeks earlier, opening the silk-lined case she had kept it in, and then just dropped it to the ground, turning to phoenix and grabbing the last crew member still there, Rubiaura, and then flying away as black flames overtook the estate.  
  
By morning,  _nothing_  would be left but dark embers.  
  
After all, the Serpent’s Kiss was just a nightmare. Nothing to be afraid of during the waking hours.


	11. Her Waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce gets shot and not killed, and contemplates things.

**Her Waters**

The thermos was set up in her quarters, and even with Xaval’s and Rizzy’s healing, the shattered knee hurt like hell.  
  
It was  _her_  own damn fault that she got shot, but she didn’t think that Phantom would be such a pussy about it.  
  
She snorted, giggling to herself, and sat up, glancing at the thermos of the soup that Xaval had prepared last night.  
  
 _“General Cero Sunsoul sent this for you…”_  
  
She tore her mind from it, thinking of the rest of the events last night.  
  
Vel and Sunspire are safe at least…  
  
Lyon may even have a date incoming, and she snickered, wondering if she should go ahead and give a heads up to Uncle Terry.  
  
Without meaning to… she may have secured the alliance between Crimson Wings and the Port.  
  
That thought had her frowning.  
  
 _“Why do you hate the General so much?”  
_  
The thermos got another glance, and she forced her gaze away from it.  
She never knew that deep a love existed. It scared her, such a thing was addictive for all the  _right_  reasons.  
  
And she couldn’t afford to get lost in it.  
  
“Right. No point staying put, we have work to do.”

She gimped over to her desk, grabbed the box with the well cared for goggles and snapped them on, then hopped over to her door, ignoring Zelus except to lean on him as she made her way to the deck.  
  
“Nothing gets in these waters without our knowing it,” she said as she made her way to the wheel, “That defense tower will keep everything else out of Sunspire, we watch the sea. Until orders come from the Trade-Lord himself, that’s our job! If it doesn’t fly the flag of the port, turn all our guns on it.”

Let that spoiled lord come. Lucierin was willing to bet that her nightmare of a ship wasn’t the only surprise Kurel had waiting for him.  
  
Sunspire would not fall. At least not while she was here.

* * *

She leaned heavily on Zelus as she made her way to the the wheel, then leaned heavily on that.  
  
Her shattered knee still hurt like hell. And there was no fixing it, not unless she got herself killed and spent two weeks at least inside her egg.  
  
Even then, she wasn’t sure that would work the way that it should.  
  
At that range, she was lucky she still had her leg.  
  
Things had been quiet in the harbor, excepting for a light show that one ship was having a week or so ago, and the earthquakes, nothing really had happened in Sunspire.  
  
The crew was getting restless. She had sent them on shore leave in shifts, and that seemed to lift morale a bit but…  
  
 _We need work._  
  
She glanced over at the message she received from Vel, frowning as she thought about it.  
  
 _It’s work. And we won’t have the damn thing on our ship, we just have to keep any bad from the Gambit. Puts us in good light in Kurel’s eyes, and we get to show off a bit. Win win in my book._  
  
Nothing to do but prepare for it. She’d have to get with Rubes to see what they needed for the guns, and then check with Teera to ensure that everything was ready for another trip to the Broken Isles.  
  
A cheerful whistling caught her ear and Lucierin glanced over at the pale undead girl that was busy swabbing the decks, “You seem happy.”  
  
“It’s time for Luna to returns everyone’s faces!” Annie replied with a large smile, “I’ll have new friends soon,” she paused, “Er… for a bit at least. I don’t think Eriesa’s going to do what she did to me anymore. But Luna won’t be lonely!”  
  
Luce frowned, that… was something she didn’t want to have to worry about.  
She didn’t wait for Zelus, she started limping back to her cabin, sitting down at her desk, and pulling out a strange box, pressing toggles and switches as she put a headset over her ears.  
  
“Alright you happy idiot… where did you go this time…?”  
  
 _“Hullo Lucy!”  
_  
She growled at the name, yet breathed a sigh of relief, “Just checking in, making a report to give to the General,” she said as she tapped her earphones, “Where are you?”  
  
 _“Oh! Near some glowing green things and some doohickies that are REALLY big, and there are some mean people here, they tried to kill me… five times…”_ there was a pause,  _“Oh…really Reece? I thought they were playing with those…” another pause, “Twelve times!”  
_  
Lucierin frowned, “Get your butt to Broken Shore, I’m going to pick you…”  
  
 _“You don’t need to Lucy.”  
_  
“The hell I…”  
  
 _“No. You don’t,”_  Luna’s voice turned a tad more firm, a great deal more sorrowful,  _“I know what’s real and what isn’t. I’ll live in my faerie world still. I have a job to do Lucy, same as you. I can’t let there be more Annies… they need to have a chance to be reborn and get another life, not be stuck like they are… not when they barely had a chance to live the first time.”  
_  
“Luna, come on, we’ll get you to the General, he’ll…”  
  
 _“You take care of your ship Captain, that’s your duty,”_  Luna’s cheerfulness started to seep in, making her voice sound bittersweet, “ _But this is mine. There are more lost faeries every day, and if they stay, then bad things will happen. So I’ll take them to the Summer Lands, and if I can’t, I’ll take them to the King. I’ll come visit soon, promise.”_  
  
WIth that the connection was lost, and despite all her fiddling and cursing, Luce could not open it back up.  
  
“Idiot!” she cursed, throwing down her headset, “Just… get back in your egg! Where it’s safe!”  
  
She knew it was a useless wish, Luna was right, there was nothing to be done about her. Not unless she was willing to hunt her down on vague descriptions.  
And she had more important things to worry about now.  
  
Still…  
  
“I bet if I talk to our new allies, one of them may be able to spot her and talk some damn sense into the kid…” **  
**


	12. Job... and Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce found another job for her crew... but she's still careless...

**Job... and Consequences**

Lucierin used the ship’s wheel for support as she stood on deck, overseeing the operations.  
  
At high tide last night, the  _Serpent’s Kiss_  left with the  _Queen’s Gambit_  for the job at Broken Shore.

“Alright ladies, I want this ship running in top condition!” Luce bellowed, “We’re not going to let anything happen to the Gambit or her crew, that’s the job! Rubes, have those guns ready to fire! Lyon, you help her with the munitions! Ethillis, keep Juniper on the port side, and don’t let her loose until I say so! Xaval! Tighten those ropes! I thought Zelus trained you! Annie get your guns, we’re going for a fight not a dance! Teerles!” she smirked at her Quartermaster, “Nothing really, you’re beautiful. Keep at it.”  
  
Peep stood on the railing of the deck, crowing in the sunrise over the sea, and Luce breathed deeply in, “Alright, shift change! We’re out in open waters now, we got a bit before the job begins, take a rest and prepare!”  
  
She frowned, the mists were still flowing, and she wasn’t sure, but they felt reinforced, and she resisted taking out the white mechanical dragon to see if Serene had stopped by without telling her.  
  
“Remember, we’re a dream,” she said, “And we’re about to become the Legion’s worst nightmare.”  
  
The Kiss itself was impressive. Lucierin had redone the paint in a very dark, near black shade of green, and the jade flags were all blowing in the wind on the masts above the sails, and the Sunspire colors flew proudly, with the flag Mira had prepared for her, the holy Wings with a jade snake wrapped around her, flew just below that.  
  
Around her soft mist bellowed, flowing in and out of the wood, making it difficult to perceive the Kiss unless you knew that it was there and were looking directly at it.

If Westfall was anything to go by, that mist would turn into a weapon itself at any moment… if there was an enemy on the water, they’d drown in their own fears once it touched them.

Lucierin limped down to the main deck, putting her hands on her hips as she inspected the work being done.  
  
“Lyon,” she said as she clapped her hands on the death knight’s shoulders, “There’s one thing you need to know before Vel gives you a ship… cause if you lose that, then she’ll never sail for you. See if you can figure it out while you’re here.”

She chuckled, limping away without saying anything more, then went to stand next to Teera, "Arrange watches,” she said quietly, “I want everyone rested and ready at a second’s notice, but let’s assume the job’s already went south.”

She grinned, leaning her arms on the railing, “Still… might as well have some fun while we’re at it. Cause after this, we’re permanently hired." 

* * *

It always felt the same when she was in her egg.  
  
She was floating, shadows and flame swirling around her, memories of her own life and Kit’s life mixing together.  
  
Worries flowed from her now, did the Kiss make it back, did she buy any time for Teera and Rubi to get out of there…  
  
Her death served more as a distraction than a catalyst this time.  
  
At least her knee would stop bothering her. She could feel the flames and shadows forming around her, repairing her body that had been burned beyond recognition.  
  
That damn trade route better be worth it.

…of course she still had to get the Kiss and Gambit back to port.  
  
She  _really_  hoped that someone threw the damn cargo over the side.   
  


* * *

Tesla was hungry.  
  
Her mistress hadn’t returned home, instead the nice larger snakes were in and out of her room, not paying the stolen Temple snake any mind as they fussed over something.  
  
Where was Mistress? She wanted to be warm and fed and Mistress always would let her coil…  
  
Oh…  
  
What was that?  
  
She slithered over to the warm thing, wrapping around it as her tongue flicked out.  
  
It made her think of Mistress.  
  
It must be food! Warm food as a treat!  
  
Tesla unhinged her jaw and went to…  
  
“Here you go, have a giant rat instead,” the egg was snatched from the snake and a large rodent put in it’s place.  
  
Tesla happily swallowed the new food and Teera sighed as she looked down at the egg in her arms, “It was a cute rat too Captain, please come back before I have to give her another one!”


	13. Grown Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce hatches again, and after spending some time away, returns to the Kiss.

**Grown Up**

She had been flying since Vel went to sleep, heading back to her ship and enjoying the freedom that the wind and night brought her.  
  
Near sunrise, she touched down onto the Serpent’s Kiss, transforming quietly to her elf-self, and stepped… with only the slightest of limps… to her cabin.  
  
It was just as she left it, and Lucierin smiled as she walked to her desk to retrieve the goggles he had given her so long ago, pulling them over her hair and then leaning them up to rest as a near head band until she needed them.  
  
If she were Luna… she may have pulled her dangerous plan off.  
  
The Captain sighed, it was reckless and irresponsible, and it left her crew alone for a week or more…  
  
Granted, they had Teera, but…  
  
“I can’t call shadows and flame like she does, all I can do is disappear in them,” she said quietly, “Absorb the nightmare from others and then let it loose. And I need to concentrate all of that into the protections on my ship.”  
  
Teerles and Rubes needed her to stay intact. The rest of her crew needed her (though she was certain that Xaval was just the galley cook to stay close to Teera, and was Zelus back from his trip yet?) and she  _couldn’t afford_  to leave them like that again.  
  
It may have been different if her sacrifice actually meant something. Too little, too late.  
  
Luce growled at herself and walked the deck, the slight limp still in her leg, her knee had regrown, but  _not_ completely healed.  
  
She didn’t want it to. Not completely. She needed the reminder to not be a reckless idiot.  
  
“...can't just die on them like that again,” she leaned on the railing and took a deep breath, “Got those damn responsibilities and all that.”  
  
She needed to speak with Mavas, to ensure that the trade route they discussed was still on the table. Then prepare something for the Expo in Thousand Needles… if she could barter with an invention to the gnomes and goblins at that festival, they’d be able to get a lot more than ship parts and supplies.  
  
Rubes would be right at home in that Bazaar, they’d make up some money there if the Sales Priestess was willing to share in the profits.  
  
She thought to the conversation she had with Vel last night, smiling sadly to herself.  
  
Luce was  _over_  her, she stopped trying to impress her, instead just wanted the monk to be happy. She only explained the idea of going to Thousand Needles because she had confused her at first.  
  
As Captain, she didn’t have time to keep chasing Vel.  
  
As Lucierin… she didn’t  _want_  to any more… she wanted to be the one being chased for once. The little phoenix that nipped Vel’s ear last night was doing so out of habit, not to get attention.  
  
“Guess I really am growing up,” she sighed, “Took me what… seven hatchings?”


	14. New Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce gets back to work.

**New Job**

It had been a good night when they made landfall. No one got shot at.  
  
Lucierin slid the last of her daggers into the hidden sheaths and grabbed the goggles Cero had made her so long ago, fixing them so that they would work as a headband unless needed, and walked out her cabin to find Zelus waiting on her, watching as he filled his flask.  
  
He didn’t bother taking the little braids out his ponytail, and she smirked, turning to walk onto the deck to watch the other two teams go.  
  
Teera was going to love Halfhill, she just knew it, and Xaval would make sure to pick out only the finest ingredients for the cooks back at Sunspire. And Lyon… even if he couldn’t follow the most basic of orders or get what Lucierin was teaching him in those Captain lessons Vel demanded, would keep her dragons safe.  
  
The other team, comprising of Ethillis and Rubiaura were heading to Dawn’s Blossom and then later to the Grummel Market, taking the new kid with them. Rubes could charm the skin off a snake, and sell ice to the kalu'ak, the  _best_ person to send after the non-food items on their import shopping list.   
  
As for danger to the three, Luce doubted anything would attack them and  _survive_ , given both Ethi’s and Rube’s abilities, but it’d be a good chance for the kid to get some action in. And the new rigger V could use the experience… even if nothing did happen.  
  
Hopefully he took his practice assignment seriously.  
  
Luce grinned at the thought of every rat between Sri La Village and Dawn’s Blossom suddenly dying of a knife through the body.  
  
That left the Captain and her sailing master.  
  
Officially, she had told the crew that the two of them were going to go see what Madame Goya had in her Black Market,  _unofficially_ , she and Zelus were going to check for any troubles that may be brewing.  
  
This was going to be a regular port for them after all. And while what she told her crew her reasons for docking near the fishing village were, they weren’t the only ones.  
  
She had never crossed them, but there really was a nasty organization operating near here, Luce wanted to make sure that they stayed where they  _never_  butted heads. She did  _not_  need a repeat of that night a few years back where she had lost out a contract to a much quicker operative, and the warning she got then.   
  
And damned if she was going to lose any member of her crew to those assholes. That death had  _hurt_!  
  
“That was hatching number three I think…” she mused.  
  
“Captain, talkin’ to yourself isn’t good,” Zelus snorted, packing his cigars and taking one out to stick in his mouth.

She snorted, “Come on, much as I like Sri La Village, let’s make sure this is the safest port. We might have a proposition when we get back home.” **  
**


	15. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nightmare is over... right?

**Scars**  
  
On her desk of tools and materials, there was a vial with a glowing black feather.  
Lucierin would ignore the question if anyone asked her, if someone would try to touch it, they’d find a knife in or near their hand, depending on how much she liked them.  
  
No one asked. No one who would was allowed in her cabins anyways.  
  
She didn’t sleep… not willingly at least.  
  
It was a well kept secret, the only time she did were times she knew that she wouldn’t dream… it was why she drunk though she knew that she’d regret it. There was a medicine made for her as well… one that would let her sleep without…  
  
Oblivion was much preferred to dreaming.  
  
The Nightmare was over… but she had the memories, hers and the ones stolen from Kit that she kept in the feather. She could never tell the one she was bound to what really happened…  
  
She only wanted to forget.  
  
She was not _allowed_ to.   
  
It was why there were mornings she woke up screaming. Why she guarded the medicine Xaval had once made for her carefully, only taking it after such sleep couldn’t be avoided.

She had to remember… that the Nightmare wasn’t real… that it was over.

Lucierin hoped that it was true, that Kit had finally defeated Alandrine’s curse…


	16. Love and Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce finds a bit of happiness, but...

**Love and Fear**

Lucierin frowned as she heard a damn rooster crowing outside, and the mental link from Kit being open because the idiot girl woke up three hours before sunrise.

_Way too damn early for this…  
_  
She rolled over, then her eyes widened in surprise to find she wasn’t alone in the bed… it was such an odd concept for her.  
  
 _Oh right…_

This time it wasn’t her that passed out drunk.  
  
 _Soooo things went well?_  Kit’s teasing voice sounded before Lucierin forcibly closed the link with a single  _Shut up_.  
  
Then she wrapped her arms around the other woman, kissing the back of her neck before going back to sleep without thinking of how it was even possible that she could.

...She had forgotten her medicine, but... there were no dreams that night, not as long as Ellyri was with her.

* * *

There were tiny springs and gears laid carefully out in front of her as she lowered a magnifier on her goggles and set to work on the tiny details of the music box and main communicator of the device in front of her. This was to be something special, a present for when someone returned to the ship.  
  
Unlike the nightingales she made for others, she had chosen a little fox for the design on this one, something she figured V would appreciate after spending as much time with Kit as he would have on the mission Cero had given them.  
  
Lucierin paused for a moment, glancing at another part of her desk at the plans she had sketched out for the Dragonfox II.   
  
A large yawn interrupted whatever thought she was about to have, and she panicked. When  _was_  the last time she had taken the medicine that let her sleep without dreaming?  
  
Nothing to do but get the  _other_ sort of medicine, the one that would let her stay awake, and she got up, taking her goggles off and leaving them with the rest of the tools at her desk as she went across her cabin to her poisons and antidotes, falling on the way there from sheer exhaustion.  
  
Sleep was something she feared… for good reason.  
  
The Nightmare… sensing her alone and unguarded… struck quickly.  
  
 _Are these memories or are Kit and I still cursed?  
_  
Did it matter? Once more she was a child, her hatchling self, once more she attacked Alandrine before Kit could be harmed…once more she failed.  
  
And then she was an elf-child, near identical to Kit and both were falling into darkness that twisted and warped on itself.  
  
They managed to grab each other’s hand, at least they would do this… whatever this was… together.  
  
The landing was soft, almost as if they had floated down to this planet. Demons were everywhere, and the two of them were alone.  
  
Alandrine had sent them through the nether to offer their souls to her masters, Kit’s body to be…  
  
Lucierin didn’t want to think on it as the two ran through one barricade, hiding and trying to find a way to survive, to get back.   
  
How many years had they spent in there?  
  
She never could tell, the Nightmare changed so quickly, throwing all of the memories at her at once, even when they had been in it, they didn’t keep track, and it seemed like they both were grown within fifteen minutes of their landfall.  
They never stopped fighting, they couldn’t afford to. If they paused for even a second…  
  
 _“CAPTAIN!”_  
  
The dream changed, to a softer hue, to a forest instead of a wasteland, and Lucierin slowly came back to consciousness, her eyes fluttering awake, then glancing to see her Quartermaster looking at her with large concerned eyes.  
“Teerles…?”

The troll smiled in relief at her and she sat up, frowning as she noticed that her entire cabin was covered in her purple flames.   
  
Quietly, she called them back to herself, and slowly she stood.“I’m going to go and ask Xaval for some soup… do you need anything?” she frowned, then shook her head, “Thanks for getting me out of there…”  
  
The flames were hotter than usual, she wondered how close she came to burning the ship down, and she reached to her hair to pull another nearly black feather from herself, quietly going to add it to the bottle on her desk.  
  
“Teerles… It’s important that I don’t fall asleep on accident any longer. Can you ask Rubes if she made anymore of that stimulant? I’ll need all I can get.”  
  
She paused, then chewed the inside of her cheek, “And get a message out to General Cero Sunsoul and to Theravir. Tell them I need to speak with them… as soon as he can make time for me.”  
  
Did they even know that the Nightmare was still happening?  
  
Were she and Kit still cursed? Or were these really just memories?

And more importantly… was she making a huge mistake in trusting Cero…?  
  
Lucierin shook her head. She couldn’t ignore it, not anymore. Her flames were reacting to it. She nearly burnt down the cabin, and she knew that it was the fire-proofing that she and Serene had done to keep it from igniting or spreading past this area.  
  
 _What if Ellyri had been sleeping over?_  
  
She was done with running and hiding. Done with taking medicine to either trick her into staying awake or knock her out with no chance of dreaming. Done with going back to the egg and avoiding nightmares that way.  
  
If she was still having them, then so was Kit. And they were only getting worse.  
  
No more. She couldn’t risk her ship or her crew.

_I can’t risk myself_.


	17. A Simple Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yes or no. Do you love your daughter?"

**A Simple Question**

It was a simple question with a simple answer.  
  
Lucierin didn’t care for anything about Vel being given her soul back, or demons or any of that extra crap.   
  
All she wanted to know was whether or not the woman that Vel saw as her mother ever loved her.  
  
Yes or no.  
  
 _“Things aren’t that simple.”  
_  
Lucierin growled at the memory of what the death knight had said to her.  
 _  
Bullshit. You’re just someone who took things for granted until you died, then everything turned sour.  
_  
Ava’s explanation for what she did still lay heavily at the pit of her stomach,  _“Our affections…”  
_  
Vel was her little pet. To her, she was nothing better than a little puppy or a snake or a b…  
  
 _Or a bird.  
_  
Lucierin screamed as she stabbed the training dummy in her room, fully ready to admit that if Darnath hadn’t kicked Ava off the cliff, that she’d have attacked the woman herself. Father and Uncle may have been worried about the organization’s reputation, about what to do if Ava wanted retaliation.  
  
She never gave a crap for any of that.  
  
 _Yes or no.  
  
Do you love her?  
  
“Things aren’t that simple.”  
_  
Theravir was able to answer for Sunny and Luna… she didn’t ask Cero his answer for Kit.  
  
 _And as far as demons go, if someone asked that of Mira about Leona or Serene.  
  
Alright, so some parents don’t get a choice. The ones who do though…  
_  
 _No wonder Mira dislikes Ava. She knew long before any of us, didn’t she?  
_  
Lucierin stopped, putting her knives away and looking over the damage she did to the dummy, a small part numbly telling her that she probably should make a new one.   
  
No. Things weren’t simple. Her little love life was testament to that much, Kit’s was an even worse witness. When it came to love things were  _never_  simple. Memories not hers only worked to prove this.  
  
Did she love Ellyri? She wanted to.  _Oh dear gods, she hoped that she could.  
_  
But there was a difference between  _that_  and between Ava and Vel… or Mira and Leona… or Cero and Kit. Between love shared between two people and love shared between a parent and a child.   
  
 _Why didn’t I ask Father?  
_  
A simple question.  
  
 _Yes or no._  
  
Do you love her?


	18. Flying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce remembers the fun things she did with Kit

**Flying**

_**“Come on Lucy!”**  Kit yelled,  **“It’s going to be so much fun,”** she pulled down her goggles,  **“Ready…”**_

_**“Set…”**  Lucierin chirped as she folded her wings.  
  
 **“GO!”**  both yelled as Kit hung onto the saddle and Lucierin fell off the cliff runway and dove to the waters below, flinging open her wings a second before they hit the ocean and then soared across the surface for a few moments before she flapped them and they rose up to the air.  
  
Kit grinned as she started to stand when they got altitude, holding on to the tether tied to the saddle, then…  
  
She flew down from Lucierin to the kor'kron raider before, using her pole-arm to knock him from his wyvren and then bounced to the next one as the phoenix used her talons and beak to take care of the leader of this squadron, then used the tether to fall again, diving with Lucierin to the waters below and grabbing onto the saddle right before they hit.  
  
They never would hit. Lucierin was too good, her wings always came out just as Kit grabbed the saddle and they rose back to the air._  
  
She hadn’t looked at that saddle in a few years.  
  
It was one of the things she had stuffed in the closet at her father’s house, and since she never was there, she had no reason to look. Besides, there was no use for it anymore, there was no reason to fly to war. Both of them were at sea, on mostly peaceful missions.  
  
 _We used to fly just for fun too… diving down until the last second.  
  
Stupid kids… what if the wings came out too late…  
_  
 _They never did.  
_  
She brushed her hair from her eyes, glancing up at the stars from where she sat on the rigging.  
  
Those were her first real memories… aside from the Nightmare…  
  
Everything before that were implanted images, Kit’s life channeled to her when she was in the egg.   
  
 _Why did you create me Father? And why so well?  
_  
Kit was crying in her sleep again, and Lucierin frowned at the tug in her chest, connected to the heart in the monk’s,  _She’ll never tell anyone about the new nightmares, she won’t worry anyone. Idiot.  
_  
Should she?  
  
She thought about the vial of blackened feathers on her desk and snorted.  
  
 _I’m an idiot too.  
_  
The Captain took out her pan flute and started to play, feeling the heart across the sea start to ease and Kit fall into a more restful slumber.  
  
Lucierin looked up at the stars again.  
  
 _I should get that saddle back. Ellyri might want to fly._


	19. Silly Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce confesses to Ellyri... and it does not go well...

**Silly Bird**

She was quiet as she slipped back to her ship, waving at the night watchman and at Juniper, and then heading straight to her cabin.  
  
 _Stupid. I’m so stupid.  
_  
Lucierin glanced at the near empty thremos of the special medicine Xaval had made and shook her head, “Not what I need right now. I’m not running to Father because…”  
  
Because why?  
  
She flopped on her bed and closed her eyes, “We’re still… We just have to talk. Right? It’s not over because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”  
  
 _“Why are you here?”  
_  
Lucierin just  _had_  to answer that.  
  
She really was Kit’s clone.  
  
“…I don’t care,” she muttered, “I don’t know why, but I like being around you. Can’t that be enough?”  
  
Damnit she had let herself get optimistic. She knew better than to think like that  _stupid_  naive twin of hers.  
  
Better get it together. The  _Kiss_  had a job to do and she couldn’t do anything with her crew if they saw her like this. By morning she came out of her cabin her usual self. Mostly at least.  
  
Somewhere far away Kit tilted her head as she paused in taking a bite out of her apple and frowned before wiping her cheeks and staring at the wetness there.  
  
 _Luce… how come you’re crying?_


	20. Replicant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From a prompt I gave the Serpent's Kiss crew. Why does Luce want to be on the sea?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the Serpent’s Kiss Prompt:   
> “What drew your character to the sea in the first place? Furthermore, what brought them to their ship?”

**Replicant**

_"Oh! Look Big Brother! I bet we could get into one and sail away and never see the orphanage again!”  
_  
If she ran into Zobu, would he even know who she was?  
  
Lucierin doubted it, the memories she had of him were not hers, they never were, they all belonged to Kit.  
  
 _“We’ll build our own! And fill the hold with apples! And just go on adventures! Who needs parents when you’ve got the entire world in front of you right?”  
_  
She closed her eyes against words she never spoken, yet knew by heart.  
  
After all, she and Kit were the same. Just… opposite sides of a coin.  
  
She didn’t know why she started building this ship. The Dragonfox was being repaired, she could take that, she knew Kit wouldn’t mind.  
  
But there was such a huge importance Luce placed on seperating herself from Kit, that the two were different…  
  
Why the ocean then?  
  
 _Because she never will be at home there. I can… but…  
_  
Birds called out overhead and she paused in her work to look up, listening to the information they gave her, then chuckled, “The skies are already mine, do I need to take this from her too?”  
  
It was hard work. Harder than anything she or Kit had done. The Dragonfox was built on commission, this ship was being done by her hand… well, as much as she could do. Lucierin wasn’t foolish enough to not hire boatwrights and carpenters. There was a whole crew working on building her ship.  
  
It was lovingly designed. Every detail she had gone over almost as many times as the designs for her nightingales and wrens. She had started nearly as soon as she took on Kit’s little enterprise at these docks, a right granted to her by Kit being lost at sea. Luce knew she was alright, and now she shook her head as she checked on her “twin” and finding her talking animatedly to the rogue that rescued her from the naga.  
  
Kit would return when she returned. No sense in worrying about it. Just clean up the usual mess.  
  
Sunsoul Adventures didn’t last very long, she had tried, but as usual the bad luck that followed the wandering monk caught up with her, and she was lost again.  
  
Luce had Serene start the paperwork to put the company in Vel’s name, and started work on the ship.  
  
 _“Big Brother! Look at all those waves! It’s like the ocean doesn’t have any memory!”_  
  
She paused again, frowning at the sudden memory, going through the strange logic of Kit to find out why she said it.  
  
Her non-disguised dark eyes looked over to the water, to the waves crashing on the shore, the constant churning of sand and water.  
  
“If I go with you, can you promise me the same?” she whispered, “No memories. A home and a family of my own? I won’t just be Father’s greatest experiment? Replacement parts for her?”  
  
Lucierin didn’t expect an answer, she stared for a moment more, then went back to work on her ship.


	21. Song-Wrecked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...The Kiss is gone, her crew is gone... what happened?

**Song-Wrecked**

The only sound were the waves crashing on the shore.  
  
Lucierin slowly opened her eyes as her thoughts began to run at full speed after being subdued for so long.  
  
 _Ellyri!  
_  
She sat straight up, holding her head for a moment as memories caught up with her, they were sailing into port, the storm had started up, she and Rubes had dumped the cargo and marked the map as it got stronger.   
  
 _The winds were picking up. Think, what happened? Where’s the Kiss and her crew?  
_  
The storm was strong, they had gone far off their course.  
  
Then singing.  
  
Dark violet eyes flashed as she stood up.  _How long have I been here?  
_  
A squeak sounded behind her, along with a bundle of dropped things, and Luce stepped into the shadows, pulling a blade out and stepping behind the fish-child, pressing it at her throat, “Open your mouth again and I cut out your vocal cords.” she growled.  
  
The siren nodded, tears forming in her eyes.  
  
“Just nod or shake your head. That storm was part your doing?”  
  
She shook her head and Luce frowned.  
  
“So you took advantage of it. Found a hapless crew and started singing?”  
  
The girl nodded.  
  
“I got seperated from them?” another nod, “During the storm?” a pause and then her head shook, “After. How…” Luce cursed under her breath, “Hold up, let me rephrase… I went bird and tried to blow you up. They used the distraction to escape? I would order Teera to do that…”  
  
A slight hiccup and a nod and Luce shrugged, “Alright, so the rest got away safely. Or… safe-ish. They make it back to civilization?” another nod, “You decided to keep my egg. So I’ve been under your spell for two weeks at least, three or four including hatch times… impressive Kid. I didn’t think my mind was that easy. Should have guessed considering Kit,” she frowned, “I’m quick. You start singing and those vocal cords come out. I’m removing my blade from your neck now. Don’t try anything.”  
  
She put it away and backed up, holding up her hands and then squatted, looking over the child, “How much time has passed?”  
  
The girl blinked, then counted on her fingers, holding all of them up, “Ten weeks? Damn. You are impressive. Alright, fun’s fun. I gotta get bac…” she squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly hugged, “…Kid, I’ve got people…”the child started crying and Lucierin took a sharp intake of breath, “…Where’s your mom?”  
  
Harder tears and Lucierin just slumped, “Is that why you tried to get us? To look for her?”  
  
A rather energetic nod at that and the phoenix was contemplating self-destruction at even more tears.  
  
“…Alright Kid, alright! I’ll help you find her. Just… no more singing! I need my control so I can protect you,” Luce pushed the child away, “And you had better woman up! Can’t just rely on your tears and singing. I’m having you on knife throwing drills.”  
  
The siren grinned toothily and hugged her again and Lucierin sighed.  
  
“…Damnit, your mom better  _not_  try to eat me…”


	22. Hopeless Wanderer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luce makes it to shore...

**Hopeless Wanderer**

The sirens at least didn’t kill her, they didn’t even attempt to attack the bird that flew their lost child near their shore. Lucierin stayed a moment in that form, ensuring that this group were safe and that they didn’t attempt to call any sailors near before she took flight again.  
  
Her ship was gone, her crew had long went to shore.  
  
What to do, where to go?  
  
Luce closed her eyes, followed the wind and flew away from the sun as her form shrunk to a smaller bird, one that may not be noticed. Granted… magpies were not birds normally seen near open water. She doubted that anyone would pay close enough attention. 

There was the familiar pull from her bond with Kit, but the other was sleeping, had been for some time, and Luce saw no reason to wake her so long as she kept far from the Nightmare that plagued them both.   
  
Memories that she had once tried so hard to forget clawed their way to the surface, and she flapped her wings, putting a burst of speed between herself and them, they weren’t hers, they  _never_  were hers.  
  
Yet she refused to give them back to the child they did belong to, Kit did not deserve what was in them.  
  
That jar of black feathers was sealed somewhere at the bottom of the ocean now… she hoped that it would remain lost.  
  
There would be more… many more until the curse was done, the Nightmare truly gone.   
  
She could smell a shore nearby. Other birds were calling towards her, and she turned course and followed their directions to make landfall.   
  
The elf stepped out beneath a tree, frowning at the fields below, reaching up to her dark hair to pull out a black feather, burning it into ash instead of trying to seal it away.  
  
She took a deep breath, she’d have to contact someone eventually, and she took a moment to gather her bearings, then turned back to bird, calling out for directions and then changing her heading.  
  
Home was not a luxury they had just yet.  
  
Perhaps one day they could stop their hopeless wandering.  
  
Until then, she hoped that Kit slept peacefully.  
  


* * *

There was a bottle in her hand, one she didn’t remember getting. There were reasons she didn’t drink. She couldn’t handle alcohol, it messed with every sense she had.

Why was she? Why not find another vice? She hadn’t been gambling yet… And when was the last time she smoked?

She took another swig, not even tasting the bitterness now. How many did this make? When did you die of alcohol poisoning?

…would her death be enough to wake up the other?

She shook her head. Let her sleep. Let her find peace in the world where there was none. Kit earned that rest, she deserved to be kept safe for once…

Luce could deal with the Nightmare.

Or so she kept telling herself that as she tried desperately to kill her brain cells.

_Enough._

She watched the bottle shatter against the large tree she had thrown it towards, quietly mourned the last bits of clear liquid that vanished into the soil.

…Kit was asleep. The idiot was probably trying to get to the moon in her dreams.

She was safe here. Luce would come back before anything more could happen. If she woke up…

The Nightmare had to end. They couldn’t keep running from Alandrine. Not when the woman had been dead for so long.

She brushed the hair from Kit’s face, gently bent down and kissed her lips.

Tomorrow she’ll fly away from here. Tomorrow she’d deal with the world and it’s idiocracies. Tomorrow she’d find a way to end the Nightmare.

…tonight she’d just hold her other self tightly.


End file.
